Grapevine

From Thom Hartmann's 3/26 report:

You need to know this. All around the world, people are talking about a basic minimum income, and what they're saying makes a lot of economic sense. Regardless of whether you want to fight poverty, stimulate the economy, shrink the size of government, or simply ensure everyone has a sense of human dignity – you should be calling for a no-strings-attached basic income for all. Since it's inception, Social Security has been incredibly successful at fighting poverty. So rather than slashing it, or means-testing it, we should expand it to every American. In addition to helping low-income workers, a basic income would provide a huge boost to our economy. When people have money to spend, demand increases, and businesses see faster growth and higher profits. Even those who believe that the size of government is our biggest problem should be all-in-favor of a minimum income for all Americans. Rather than administering a huge patchwork of overlapping social programs, our nation could save time and money by simply issuing every citizen a monthly check. A basic minimum income makes sense economically, and it could lead to important social benefits too. Crime rates would likely decrease because people wouldn't need to steal to survive. More Americans would have the opportunity to raise families or complete their education when they're not working three jobs just to get by. And, a minimum income would ensure that no one would be denied their basic human dignity by being forced to live in squalor in the richest nation of the face of the Earth. These are not extreme ideas. When you consider the economic, social, and moral benefits, a basic minimum income just makes sense.